WEEK 2/3 of CAMP: BURG WERNFELS

The first week went well, not as well as last week but that could be because I didn’t have my own kids. Alfie and I were both on night duty, which I liked but didn’t like at the same time. Being a night counselor means you’re the “bad guy”, but you can be carefree with them at the same time. I can join in any daytime activity or game that I feel like and not have to be worried or feel like I am obligated to police all day long.  Alfie and I created a castle trivia hunt the first night. It took us all day long to plan it and count things in the castle but then again they’re so good and quick that it didn’t last too long BUT it was hilarious!  The second night we put on LEO Olympics, Wednesday was a movie night, Thursday disco night!

Wednesday was the high ropes course… it. Was. Awesome! Alfie and I got the choice if we wanted to do a half day at the ropes course and the other half at the lake… we both stayed at the ropes all day long! I was actually truly impressed with myself because I led much of the course, with the kids watching it was as though my fear of heights disappeared! (haha, I wish!). Regardless, I had a complete blast and I can’t wait to go back next week with my kids!

Over the weekend, I decided to stay at Wernfels because I had a group there for the second week as well. Brendan, Katie, Alfie and I had a wonderful and relaxing weekend.  Friday night we made our way down through town and over to a pricey restaurant along the river.  Katie and I had marvelous and flavorful seared fish! Freshly caught, the whole fish lay there on my plate, surrounded with a white cream and spinach butter sauce… YUM!  It was a hike home, considering the castle is on a steep hill. Saturday morning brought us a delicious breakfast, which is where we packed our sandwiches and fruit for our afternoon lunch hike through the woods.  Brendan loves cows, and I couldn’t help but think of Michelle.  We stumbled upon a couple of farms, where Brendan stopped to pet the cows.  Two hours into our hike we found a lovely bench beside a stream with wild flowers surrounding us.  We sat there and enjoyed our lunch, and great ripe peaches!  On our way back through town, we just had to stop for ice cream before we hit the pool, sunbathed, then headed to dinner.  

We’ve met some great people throughout this past week. I’m friends with two of the cooks, and there’s a German dad,Marcus, on vacation who always seems to make his way to our table or group to say hi and chat.  After dinner we invited other Germany families as well as Marcus and his son down to our bonfire.  Golly, was that a perfect night. It sounds like most of the LEOlingo group ended up in Neumarkt for the Volksfest this weekend, but there were the four of us, soaking it all in with a bonfire, talking about German/English/American life.  At one point, other families showed up with their kids for about a half hour. I couldn’t help but find roasting sticks for them and hand out marshmallows and chocolate cookies!  … it’s tradition! I told them that s’mores is one food that, if you raise your child in the US, this is a must-have for your kids! Marcus is a firefighter in his small town, and how ironic is it that his brother has a butcher shop in St. Paul, MN?!

The weekend ended with more relaxing by the pool and us finding time to get laundry done so we’re all ready for Monday morning and week two of kids at Wernfels! Time for my own group of kids again… YAY!!!

Wernfels week 2: I had the oldest group, (which I love) but seven of the 13 of them were all returners for at least 2 years out…intimidating.  Last year their counselor taught them Living on a Prayer by Madona for the ‘happy-ning’ so I was convinced that I had to top that. Problem was that I had spent the whole week trying to actually choose a song that, come Thursday, I tried introducing Don’t Stop Believing by Journey to them. Needless to say, they were not happy and wanted to do the Great Big Moose song instead. How could I argue? That’s my favorite camp song anyway, and to make it even better, they wanted to be the ‘repeat-after-me’ to the parents for the happy-ning!  My group was so close knit, the girls were chill and about as mature as you’re gonna find 14, 15, and 16-year-olds.  For the talent show, they wrote a song and sang it/played guitar for the group, ( I teared up!).  By the end of the week, they taught me other bonus games and such about Leolingo.  This was my favorite group of kids of the summer. What a great way to kick off my one week of holidays going to Prague!